text: Many revetments are used to line the banks of freshwater rivers, lakes, and man-made reservoirs, especially to prevent damage during periods of floods or heavy seasonal rains (see riprap).  Many materials may be used: wooden piles, loose-piled boulders or concrete shapes, or more solid banks.
  Concrete revetments are the most common type of infrastructure used to control the Mississippi River.  More than  of concrete matting has been placed in river bends between Cairo, Illinois and the Gulf of Mexico to slow the natural erosion that would otherwise frequently change small parts of the river's course.